Helicity Control of Supramolecular Gel Fibers Consisting of an Achiral Ni Complex in a Chiral Nematic Solvent.

The supramolecular chirality of aggregates consisting of achiral trans-bis(salicylaldiminato)Ni complex 1 bearing long alkyl chains can be generated and controlled precisely in a chiral nematic liquid-crystalline (LC) solvent, whereas the complex naturally forms achiral gel fibers in achiral nematic LC solvents and crystals in nonmesogenic solvents. The direction and intensity of the helicity of the gel fibers of 1 in the LC gel state can be adjusted by means of the nature of the helical twisting and the concentration of the chiral dopants. Helicity control was precisely detected in the circular dichroism (CD) spectra of LC gels and by direct SEM observation of the dried gel fibers. XRD analysis revealed that the flexibility of the herringbone-based lamellar alignment of this complex is the key to the LC-specific gelation and helicity control of the gel fibers.